Firewood business with my son

[HawkinsHollow]

My son is 10. I talked to him earlier in the winter about stockpiling some wood this winter to sell next year. I made him the SWEET deal that I would split he would stack and he could keep the money. We started today, got 2 ricks of wood put back, hoping for 4 or more to season all summer for sale in he fall. Right now people are getting $100/rick (face cord) seems like that will be a killer deal if energy costs continue to rise.

The deal is he can use half of it to spend on whatever he wants, the other half gets put into a savings account for use at another time. I think it will be a good lesson for him

He did great today stacking the wood. Mostly pecan and oak with a little black walnut.

 

[Gee Ray]

Good for both of you. Teach him the cost of doing the business also. Fuel, chainsaw, sharping etc. And book keeping.

 

[SandburRanch]

My son is 10. I talked to him earlier in the winter about stockpiling some wood this winter to sell next year. I made him the SWEET deal that I would split he would stack and he could keep the money. We started today, got 2 ricks of wood put back, hoping for 4 or more to season all summer for sale in he fall. Right now people are getting $100/rick (face cord) seems like that will be a killer deal if energy costs continue to rise.

The deal is he can use half of it to spend on whatever he wants, the other half gets put into a savings account for use at another time. I think it will be a good lesson for him

He did great today stacking the wood. Mostly pecan and oak with a little black walnut.


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Good job young man . Keep up the good work .

When one of our sons was about your age he wanted a winter job to make a little pocket money so he bought some weaning pigs and milked the cow 2 x/ day all winter , snow , rain it didn't matter to him . And now for the rest of the story your dad may not want to read . He sold milk to his mother , fed milk to his pigs and his dad bought the feed concentrate - - grain + the alfalfa hay . And you know what surprised me , i never had to wake him in the morning . He has always been a early riser .

 

[arizona98tj]

Sounds like a great business venture. I wish more kids had this kind of opportunity (and parents) for doing this kind of thing.

 

[Hay Dude]

Great idea. I like the profit sharing plan
I did the same thing with my dad 40 years ago. We split a lot of firewood together.
Such a wonderful way to get the kids outside, building muscle, breathing fresh air, the sun on their skin. Healthy, Gods work. We as adults have the responsibility to get the kids outside in mentally, physically healthy activity.
I’ll take a 1/2 cord, no poplar or pine please!

 

[Citydude]

Nothing better to get up in the morning and read something important going on in the world.

Your a good dad.

 

[groundcover]

I'll put him to work stacking my totes !
Word is a start like that is what lead to George Washington chopping down that cherry tree !

 

[dodge man]

Sounds like time well spent. Send him up here, I could use the help.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Thank you all for the comments.

If felt good to get this projects started. He has been bugging me about it the last couple of weeks. Which is good, you gotta make them want it, not force feed them this kind of stuff. I think so many great lessons to be had.

@Gee Ray - I am hoping this is something that continues for year. And the life lessons will ramp up as he gets older. Cost of doing business is one of them. We went for an ice cream cone between ricks. I told him he has to buy because I am his employee now and he doesn't pay me enough.

@Hay Dude -You are so right in many ways. He loves to be outside - but he also loves to play his video games or watch videos.

I am proud of him, he did so well. I think once the money hits his palm he will be hooked.

 

[Hay Dude]

Nothing better to get up in the morning and read something important going on in the world.

Your a good dad.

So undervalued, IMO.
Fatherhood and the act of great parenting for some reason, has been diminished by too many of our “leaders”.
It was difficult for me at times, but my kids rarely had any of the video games. They are now spend their spare time socializing, playing sports or studying. Probably the hardest thing was convincing them what is harder to do is actually better for them than what comes easy.

Heres one of mine, 2 weeks ago, still playing outside. Great kid. Loves Jesus and gets good grades. Captain of his team.

 

[bullbreaker]

Great bonding , priceless life lessons etc . To the OP if the young man has not been already explain to him the safety about wearing eye /ear protection , gloves etc . Oh and you might want to hide the "keys " to the chainsaw so he don't start it when your not around ! Like I did when I got alittle older than him .

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Great bonding , priceless life lessons etc . To the OP if the young man has not been already explain to him the safety about wearing eye /ear protection , gloves etc . Oh and you might want to hide the "keys " to the chainsaw so he don't start it when your not around ! Like I did when I got a little older than him .

We did wear hearing protection and gloves but didn't really have a convo about it. But I will talk with him about it next time, great idea! Also attention to detail. There is a rhyme and a reason as to how you stack the crates, teaches him attention to detail.

 

[TheMan419]

We did wear hearing protection and gloves but didn't really have a convo about it. But I will talk with him about it next time, great idea! Also attention to detail. There is a rhyme and a reason as to how you stack the crates, teaches him attention to detail.

Lots and lots of life lessons in cutting firewood and stacking it! Good on you for starting him young in learning those things.

 

[Fxfymn413]

Good job Dad! Hopefully the young man will keep that work ethic for his entire life.

We have three families that split wood together and one family's teen age/20's kids always help out. It's a great lesson in community for them to split wood for all of us.

 

[sea2summit]

Good for both of you. Teach him the cost of doing the business also. Fuel, chainsaw, sharping etc. And book keeping.

Started haying with my young teen son last year, the book keeping part has opened his eyes to a lot of things even more so than our normal wrenching and working with equipment. Huge life lessons, even if we never really earn any money I'd consider worth our time

 

[2LaneCruzer]

My son is 10. I talked to him earlier in the winter about stockpiling some wood this winter to sell next year. I made him the SWEET deal that I would split he would stack and he could keep the money. We started today, got 2 ricks of wood put back, hoping for 4 or more to season all summer for sale in he fall. Right now people are getting $100/rick (face cord) seems like that will be a killer deal if energy costs continue to rise.

The deal is he can use half of it to spend on whatever he wants, the other half gets put into a savings account for use at another time. I think it will be a good lesson for him

He did great today stacking the wood. Mostly pecan and oak with a little black walnut.


View attachment 737192

That's cool. I don't know about Tennessee, but seasoned pecan is great for a BBQ smoker; it might be more valuable if kept separate. I use Pecan, Mesquite and black jack oak in my Green Egg. We can get Hickory, but it doesn't grow locally.

 

[coobie]

Great job, keep them busy with outside projects they will thank you later.

 

[Hay Dude]

Started haying with my young teen son last year, the book keeping part has opened his eyes to a lot of things even more so than our normal wrenching and working with equipment. Huge life lessons, even if we never really earn any money I'd consider worth our time

Yes it’s very hard to put a hay operation the black. Mine started out in the red, then went into the black as I figured it out. Too many concerned with nuts and bolts and too few concerned with finances and the bottom line.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

I think we are going to do $5 bundles in a self pay kiosk as well. That $100 rick can bring $200 if put into bundles. Our gas stations and grocery stores sell it for $7.50 per 0.75 sqft. I think 1 sqft for $5 or $6 is a great deal. 42 sqft per rick = $210 for pick of bundles.

@2LaneCruzer I am sure I could get a bit more for that pecan but we are just going to sell it with our ricks and bundles. One of my spots I want to put a self pay firewood kiosk is at a BBQ joint. Maybe I will trade him some pecan for letting us use his spot.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I think we are going to do $5 bundles in a self pay kiosk as well. That $100 rick can bring $200 if put into bundles. Our gas stations and grocery stores sell it for $7.50 per 0.75 sqft. I think 1 sqft for $5 or $6 is a great deal. 42 sqft per rick = $210 for pick of bundles.

@2LaneCruzer I am sure I could get a bit more for that pecan but we are just going to sell it with our ricks and bundles. One of my spots I want to put a self pay firewood kiosk is at a BBQ joint. Maybe I will trade him some pecan for letting us use his spot.

Good thinking!